In a move to increase transparency and accountability in Congress, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has introduced a bill that would prohibit members of Congress from trading and owning stocks. Dubbed the Pelosi Act, or the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act, Hawley’s bill aims to prevent lawmakers from using their position to make money on the stock market.
The bill comes on the heels of the controversy over former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, who sold millions of dollars worth of shares of a computer chipmaker while the House was voting on a bill related to domestic chip manufacturing. The Pelosi family insists that the sale was made at a loss.
Hawley’s bill joins a growing chorus of bipartisan support for stock trading reform, with Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced the Trust in Congress Act this month. The bill marks the third time the pair have introduced the legislation.
The efforts come in the wake of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s probe of former Senator Richard Burr’s stock trades at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The SEC closed the probe of Burr’s trading activities without taking action.
If passed, Hawley’s bill would represent a major step forward in curtailing stock trading by members of Congress. The bill hopes to not only increase transparency and accountability in Congress but also to prevent lawmakers from using their positions to enrich themselves.
A fine example of why this piece of legislation is necessary is a report from the National Review.
Apparently, Paul Pelosi sold Google stock just weeks before the Justice Department filed an antitrust suit.
From the National Review:
Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sold off 30,000 shares of Google stock last month, just weeks before the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the company over alleged antitrust violations.
Pelosi sold the shares in three different transactions between December 20 and December 28, according to congressional disclosure files viewed by Fox News Business. Each transaction involved an amount between $500,001 and $1,000,000, according to the report. The trades involved between $1.5 million and $3 million of assets. The total amount of capital gains yielded was unclear.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department and eight states announced a lawsuit against the tech giant, accusing Google of monopolizing the digital advertising market.
A report done by Unusual Whales found that in 2022 most politicians beat the market.
🚨BREAKING🚨
I have just released the full trading report on politicians in 2022.
Despite 2022 being the worst market since 2008, both Democrats & Republicans beat the market.
Many politicians individually beat the market.
And many made unusual trades resulting in huge gains. pic.twitter.com/qDWIJB2spk
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 3, 2023
